Railway snow-plow



(No Model.) I w a Sheets-Sheet 1. G. W. HOPKINS.

RAILWAY SNOW PLOW. No. 316,972. Pate ted May 5, 1885.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. W. HOPKINS.

RAILWAY SNOW PLOW.

No. 316,972. Pafiented May 5, 1885..

n- Wirwases Mani??? N. Pi'rc'ni Phqm-Lilhographur. Washington, 0.1;

Mrs I STATES PATENT Fries GARRETT WALL HOPKINS, OF TRUMANSBURG, ASSIGNOROF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE V. BENJAMIN, OF ITHAOA, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY SNOW-PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.3l6,972, dated May'5 J885.

Application filed December 20, 1884. No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GARRETT WALL Hor- KINs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Trumansburg, Tompkins county, New York, haveinvented an Improved Railway Snow- Plow, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to that class of snowplows that excavate andtransport the snow from deep cuts or banks, as well as serve for thethinnest fall of snow; and the nature of my invention will be apparentas I describe its several parts. I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my snow-plow standing on arailway-track. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional ground plan. Figs. 3 to9 are detached detail views.

In the figures, a is a portion of a railwaytrack on which my plowstands, and b is a hard-wood sheathing, (represented in detail in Fig.4,) sufficiently strong to sustain the plow, and by its sliding surfaceaid in the return of the plow if derailed. Next above this, in Fig. 1,are openings 0, four in number, in which are slide boards or frames,(indicated in detail in Fig. 6,,and in the ground plan, Fig. 2,) whichslide out of their places two, three, or four feet, and are hinged tothe perpendicular partition-slides c. The horizontal slides c and theperpendicular slides c are moved out of their concealment in the plowstructure together.

In occupation of the middle parts of the plow is a series ofsemicircular snow-holders, d, on each side of the plow, fast to theiiiclined shafts d, on the top of which shafts are levers e, by whichthe semicircular snowholders are turned out of their position in theplow-structure and made to cut into the snow compacted on the sides ofthe plow when it is run or rammed into a snow obstruction. In Fig. 2these holders are represented in various positions. Three, 01, d, and dare closed in the plowtheir position when the plow is run into asnow-bank. The holder (1 is nearly rotated outward to its full extent.The bolder d is in the position of being fully loaded, the holder (1 tobe half-loaded. The other two spaces are represented empty, that therelations of the bottom slides may be seen;

It is apparent that my design is to make any number of holders on eachside of the plow and fasten them on shafts journaled near the outeredges of the sides of the plow, conceal them in it, and,when the plow isrun into abink of snow, by the levers 6, move them outward into thesnow, cutting off the snow and loading the holders, and when they arethus filled rotating them back into the inside of theplow structure,ready to be transported out of the bank when the locomotive drawsbackward the plow. Thus the snow is out into by the semicircular holdersleaving the snow in the intervals between the holders not yet detachedfrom the bank.

It will next be noticed that in Fig. 1, just below the handles 6, arethe second set of handles or levers, 6. These are fast to hollow shaftsput over or about the shafts d. They connect with the doors e, and whenthe holders, as at d", are outward and full of snow, these doors, in theposition seen in Fig. 1, are against the snow now in the holders. Thenthe levers e and e are turned simultaneously backward, and thus theholders and their load of snow are moved into the inside of the plowstructure, and, there being, as in Fig. 1, four holders on each side ofthe plow, each eight feet in diameter, there will be thirty-two feet ofthe snow obstruction out out and loaded into the plow, and so on if theplow is constructed with a larger number of holders; but spaces are leftbetween the holders not cut out. These are removed by the perpendicularslides c, concealed in the plow. They are run out by the hand-wheels 9,whose shafts operate pinions and racks on the slides. Thus the turningof the wheels moves the slides into the middle of these spaces of snow,cutting them in their middle-portions, so that by backing thelocomotives and snow-plow or running them forward they are easily brokendown by these slides. These slides are braced by chains or folding rods0 at their tops, and thus are held firmly when run out. A pair of slidesis thrust out, one slide on each side of the plow, by one wheel 9,pinion, and two racks. In connection with these slides being thus runout, because hinged to them, the horizontal slides are also run out.They are made somewhat triangular in shape, as seen in Fig. 6, and haveprojections 71, by which they are hinged to the outer ends of theperpendicular slides. Their other ends have slots h, in which studs orbolts play, so made ICO that when the perpendicular slides are run outby the hand-wheels g, carrying the horizontal slides, the bolts htighten just at the instant the slides are fully out of the plow, andthus the slides act as bracesof the lower ends of the perpendicularslides, and there being two horizontal slides to each holder, one oneach side, the bracing is made both Ways. The use of these lower orhorizontal slides is to catch, hold, and transport the snow left uncutby the holders when the running backward or forwardbreaks it down.

The holders cut into the snow-obstacle spaces represented on the scaleof four feet on each side of the plow, and the slides remove thepartitions of snow left between the cut-out spaces.

The plow has three sets of timber braces to stiffen it, which, as theyare carpentry, need only be named: first, a firm longitudinal onebetween the two series of holders in the middle of the plow; second,transverse bracing, partially shown in Fig. 5; third, a deck transversebracing (not represented) of the deck 2 of Figs. 5 and A top rail, j,runs about the top of the plow. A caboose-lookout, j, and a loosefender, f, are over the plow ends and are adjustable to each end of theplow, which is represented on the scale of sixty-six feet in length,that being the usual length of a passenger-car. It will be longer iffive to ten holders are used on each side of the plow. A dotted line, f,in Fig. 2, shows the snow-line about the plow and the cut made by theplow.

The plow-points are shown in two forms one, j, of metal over wood,sharp, with projecting metallic cutting lower edges, 70, and a topcutting-edge, Its design is to cut and break up the tough, not deep,compacted snow off of prairies, and is adapted to any not deep snowanywhere. It is an additional point to the usual point shown. The format is of wood and metal-edged, with a long slide-surface, k, suited tohold down the end of the plow in hard snow'. The rest of the ends arewood, side turning-points for deep banks of light snow, without the useof the holders, rendering my plow suited to all snow emergencies, andserviceable for all snows that any plow can be used in.

In Fig. 5 it will be observed that the shafts d of the holders areinclined outward at their tops. This is for two purposes: First, to cutthe excavation through the snow obstacle with sides wider at the topthan at the bottom; and, second, to cut the excavation on each side ofthe track down deeply, even as deep as the top of the rails.

In unloading, the locomotives draw the loaded plow backward or push itforward to any unobstructed place, when by moving the slides backwardinto the plow the loads held by them are discharged, and'by reversingthe levers e that move the doors 6 these doors, revolving on theirshafts, push the snow out of the holders, aided by their inclinedposition.

er on its shaft d, with the doors 6 partially revolved, is shown. ByFig. 3 a perpendicular elevation of a holder is represented, the doorsbeing omitted, and a lever on a pipe-socket shaft. This lever is thetopplate lever, 6. The lever c operates the inside solid shaft, 01, byits attachment to the base-plate of the holder. Fig. 3 is a view of thedoors fast to a pipe-shaft, e operated by the lever 6. Fig. 5 is atransverse sectional view representing the holders 0? on their shafts d,the deck '5, the hard-wood sheathing 6, top rails, j, the middle timberbracing of carpentry, a, the cross-bracing n, and the deck-bracing n,the top joists, n, and the bottom joists, n, and the base-purlins a Fig.4 represents the hard-wood bottom sheathing of the plow, with openingsfor the wheels on which it moves. Fig. 6 represents one of thehorizontal slides detached; Fig. 7, the two perpendicular slides, one tothe right hand by full lines and extended outward by the rack 0', fastto it, and the other, the left-hand one, partially by full lines andpartially by dotted lines, as being under the right-hand slide. The rack0* is seen in full lines. Fig. 9 shows the same thing from above. Theirposition is seen at c and 0 Fig. 2, both in and out of the plow. Fig. 8represents the two handles e e meeting at their ends, the'lever 6 beingfast to the solid central shaft d, and the bottom lever, e, to the outershort pipe-shaft, 6 The middle pipe-shaft or door-shaft is marked e.

Other things are believed to be clear by what has been said andrepresented, so as to need no further remark.

What I claim in a snow-plow is 1. The semicircular chambers orsnow-holders suspended on shafts on the sides of the plow, which, whenthe plow is run into a snow obstruction, are concealed in the plowstructure, by their shafts are turned outward, cutting out portions ofthe obstruction, loading themselves with the thus detached snow, and arerotated, with their loads, into the plow, as set forth.

2. In combination with the semicircular snow-holders, the doors hingedto central shafts that close the mouth of the holders and by theirrotation discharge the snow, as set forth.

3. The inclined shafts and snow-holders,the

inclination being given them to produce inclined walls-of snow in theexcavation, and to aid in unloading the holders.

4. The perpendicular slides in the plow structure, which are run outinto the partitions of undetached snow between the spaces out out by theholders, and which break down the partitions and trim the sides of theexcavation when the plow is run either way out of the obstructing snow.

5. The horizontal slides concealed in the plow, which are run out andreceive, hold, and transport the snow not loaded in the holders as theplow is pushed forward or is backed out of the obstruction.

6. The point j,constructed with a horizontal metallic cutting-bar at itsbase, and with a horizontal cutting-bar at its top, the space betweenthe bars being plain perpendicular wedge-shaped surfaces.

7. In a plow structure provided with semicircular snow-excavators,horizontal and perpendicular slides, a top deck, and top guardplow restswhen derailed, and which aids in the return of the plow to the track.

GARRETT WALL HOPKINS. Witnesses:

SAMUEL J. PARKER, GEO. V. BENJAMIN.

